Do Male/Female “Rape Myths” Influence a Bystander’s Likelihood to Intervene in a Sexual Assault?

11:01 October 19, 2015

A new study examining how acceptance of myths about rape involving a male or female influences bystander behavior in a sexual assault setting is published in the peer-reviewed journal Violence and Gender, from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Violence and Gender website until November 19, 2015.

In “Male Rape Myths, Female Rape Myths, and Intent to Intervene as a Bystander,” Judith Rosenstein, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, and Marjorie Carroll, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, found that whereas acceptance of both female and male rape myths is associated with bystanders being less likely to intervene when someone they know is being sexually assaulted, only acceptance of male rape myths had a negative relationship with the likelihood to help a stranger.

“This article discusses a topic that not surprisingly is too often kept out of the discussion on sexual assault-male victimization,” says Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen O’Toole, PhD, Director of the Forensic Sciences Program, George Mason University (Fairfax, VA), Forensic Behavioral Consultant, and Senior FBI Profiler/Criminal Investigative Analyst (ret.). “I think this is a conversation we need to have, and the findings of this research point out why male victimization can be such a challenge to reduce, particularly in hyper-masculine groups like the military, or college groups like fraternities and athletics. In order to turn around the bystander intervention response in these groups, directed effort has to be placed on rape myth acceptance involving male victims.”

About the JournalViolence and Gender is the only peer-reviewed journal focusing on the understanding, prediction, and prevention of acts of violence and the role that gender plays in those acts. Through research papers, roundtable discussions, case studies, and other original content, the Journal critically examines biological, genetic, behavioral, psychological, racial, ethnic, and cultural factors as they relate to the gender of perpetrators of violence. Led by Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen O’Toole, PhD, Director of the Forensic Sciences Program, George Mason University (Fairfax, VA), Forensic Behavioral Consultant, and Senior FBI Profiler/Criminal Investigative Analyst (ret.), Violence and Gender explores the difficult issues that are vital to threat assessment and prevention of the epidemic of violence. Violence and Gender is published quarterly online with open Access options and in print, and is the official journal of The Avielle Foundation. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Violence and Gender website.

About the PublisherMary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Transgender Health, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

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